Dear Husband,

 I love you. 

I love you more than ice-cold orange soda. 

I love you more than I love my Nikon D700 with my 85mm f/1.8 lens.

I love you more than my favorite four pairs of wedge heels (yeah the ones that are all the same but in different colors).

Just for that we’re going to Vegas BABY!!!!

Mark your calendar for Saturday May 22nd.

It’s going to be Mr. & Mrs. Thang Day.

Just you and me…

A bottle of wine…or three….

And tickets to see Jaabbawockeez!!!!

Love always,

Your best friend (no not Jesse)

Your soul mate

Your one and ONLY

 WIFE (aka boss)

PS   Hubby now you’re going to have to do better than this.  I just raised the bar….umm hmmm I am so ROMANTIC haha.

I’m posting this with the intention of helping to raise funds for little Socheat.

Socheat is turning three this month. It’s a call for celebration but also a call for help.

Socheat will be heading to the Dominican Republic in about two weeks to undergo heart surgery.

A renown doctor there is willing to take on her case but we have to raise enough funds for her to go and to cover hospital cost.

Every penny counts. So please help.

 To donate please visit: http://www.heartswithoutboundaries.org/helpdonate.html

Picture- Socheat with her dad. She was practicing her parade wave for the Cambodian New Year parade on Sunday in Long Beach, Ca.

When my husband and I first dated he would get offended with the little things I say. It took him several years to finally get me.

I grew up seeing people as funny beings.  I see humor in life.  My funny bones tickles when I talk to people.

I just can’t help it.  In any conversation I would sneak in a self indulged joke; only funny to people who are close to me (and that means you Sotina).

At 28 I’m starting to feel that I’ve offended too many people due to my lack of comedic skills.

I am truly sorry.

Trust me…I only kid.

Or am I?

Hmmmm…..

Picture- Husband realized who he really married and it’s not Jennifer Aniston!

How we met:

Three and a half years ago, I was invited to dinner by one of my high school friends. She wanted me to meet the guy (Eric) she was dating at that time. Unaware that my friend was actually trying to set me up on a blind date with her boyfriend’s friend, I naively went to the restaurant with her. I was under the impression that I was going to get a “free dinner” and my weakness was food, especially Korean BBQ.

When we arrived to the restaurant, I was shocked to notice that there was another member to our group. He had known that the dinner was a double date and pompously started describing his accomplishments of being a wealthy investment banker. Obviously I was turned off by his arrogance and narcissism, and stepped outside to get some fresh air. When I was outside checking my phone for any missed calls, I noticed a handsome guy dressed in a black coat walk into the restaurant. Wishing that he was my date for the night, I sighed and took in a big breathe of air to prepare myself for the long boring night ahead. When I went back to my seat, I realized that the handsome guy was sitting at our table!!! Coincidentally, he was Eric’s roommate (James). James also had a date schedule that night, but it got cancelled at the last minute so he decided to join Eric for dinner! James was relatively quiet during dinner and kept to himself while the “blind date” continued to dominate the conversation. So I was under the impression that James was not interested in me, and I continued to indulge myself in the BBQ.

After dinner, Eric suggested we all go to a café for some dessert. Obviously there was no future for the “blind date” and I, but James still did not approach me. Realizing there was no need to impress James anymore, I ended up eating four slices of cheesecake by myself! At the end of the night when everyone was parting ways, James suddenly came up to me and asked for my number! He had never met a girl with my frame who could eat so much and was impressed by my confidence to do so! I was speechless from this unexpected event, yet ecstatic that he wanted to meet me again. I guess the stars were aligned for us that night!

James ended up calling me four days later to go out. We ended up going to a cafe, then sporadically decided to go fishing at Redondo Beach Pier. Amidst the stars in the clear sky and beautiful lights reflecting the water, I fell in love that night. I remember it was freezing cold that night and James wrapped his arms around me. I felt so comfortable and warm in his arms. Never had I felt such a perfect fit! At that moment, I knew James was my “lobster” because he was the only one for me and I would live happily ever after.

How he proposed:

My favorite place in the whole world is the happiest place in the world…DISNEYLAND!!! So on December 30^th of 2009, James decided to surprise me with tickets to Disneyland as a way to commemorate another wonderful year together. Although it was pouring the whole day, we were having the time of our lives. Holding hands, we were like little kids in a candy store. James rode on ALL the rides that I loved as a child from Pirates of the Carribean to Small World and even Peter Pan!!! Being scared of heights, I cannot ride any rollercoasters so we didn’t go on any of the fast rides like Space Mountain or Matter Horn. But being the loving man that he is, James never once complained! He continued to smile and agreed to every request.

After an eventful day at the park, we decided to make a wish before we left at Snow White’s wishing well next to Sleeping Beauty’s castle. The castle was frosted with beautiful blue and white Christmas lights and glistening so magically. The twinkling stars were especially bright that night after the sky had cleared up from the rain. At the wishing well, James gave me a penny to wish for what I wanted in 2010. Obviously, I wished for another year of blessings and happiness with him. After I threw the penny in the well, I turned around and was surprised to see him down on one knee. I remember trickling tears as he told me that I was his one and only soulmate and his only wish was for us to spend the rest of our lives together. Then he placed the round-cut solitaire diamond ring on my finger and we sealed the deal with a magical kiss! =)

To celebrate this special day, we bought an ornament with Mickey and Minnie kissing and engraved it with “Happy Anniversary 2009” as a way to remember the day we got engaged. Inside the ornament, we put our Disneyland tickets from that day as our keepsake. We promised each other that every year on Dec.30^th, we will go to Disneyland as a reminder of our love for each other! It was truly the happiest moment of my life at the happiest place on earth!!!

Journey to America-

We escaped Cambodia and journeyed  into Vietnam, Thailand and found our way to the Philippines.  And there in the Philippines I started my book of childhood memories.

I remember the lake, the hut, the dirt road and all the little kids playing with dolls made of rolled up bath towels.   I remember my mother trying to straighten my curly hair.  I remember my bowl hair cut (yes, bowl hair cut peeps, talk about making sure your child doesn’t get bullied).  I remembered.

For some reason my memory of us leaving the Philippines was lost.

Today my family got together to celebrate my mother’s birthday.  I can’t help but be thankful for her.  She fills up those blank moments in my life (and at time adds a little twinkle of dramatic flavors to them).

Picture – Peeps I’m the cute one in the middle sporting the bowl cut.

I can’t help but arrange the living room furnitures every month or so. 

I can’t commit to a pair of nice shoes…or two. 

One thing I found myself cheating on now is my profile picture.

YUP…I can’t commit to my own picture! 

Hi my name is Orn and I have profile picture commitment issues.

Today Anna and I decided to take turns taking each others pictures.  We played the role of our clients and posed for the camera.  Acting “natural” in front of the camera is REALLY DIFFICULT!

I ended up feeling like a shy 14 year old at the school dance waiting for that one cute boy to ask me to dance.  Yeah it really did feel that way!

Picture by Anna Mae Photography (www.annamaelam.org )

At that moment it felt as if she was finally showing a piece of mommy in her.

Bear has always been her daddy’s girl.

-She resembles him.

-She adores him.

-She’s his mini me.

BUT that night she was a little version of me!

(I call this, In mommy’s footstep…..yup! I even added a little company logo for her! PROUD MOM OR WHAT?)

My older brother was chosen by default to cut the turkey because uncle Heng was at work- oh can’t you just see the excitement in his face!

Ladies and gents, brothers and sisters, moms and dads, I finally took my profile pictures!!!

I use this one for my About Moi Page- I love it…totally me in every way possible.